Mini-Review: C. Crane Digital FM Transmitter

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so, i got an ipod mini to join the technorati and the current future music lovers, but i didn't always want to use my headphones or ear buds to listen to tunes. the c. crane digital fm transmitter seemed to be a solution, broadcasting my tunes through my various radios. (ok, i could get stereo adapter plugs, but i live in at least three different places and drive about 300 miles/week.)

when you're technologically arrogant, who looks at or reads instruction booklets? they are for the weak and faint-hearted. i plugged the transmitter into the mini and hit play, turned my kloss pal to a blank fm station, found the same frequency on the transmitter, and off i went. it's alive, it's alive!

i use my kloss pal radio all over my house, including on the back deck and in the backyard; since we've got a good size suburban house i have no out of range difficulties within a hundred feet or so (c. crane lists a 70-foot line of sight range).

the unit is about 3″ by 3.25″ by 1.25″ and is very light, about the weight of the ipod mini itself. there is a window on top which displays a digital frequency and other indicators as appropriate: battery low, auto off, etc. there are also two buttons on top for moving the frequency up and down by 5khz in the fm band (i.e., xx.x5mhz). the folding antenna goes flat into the top face (so that it's completely out of the way and there are no protrusions on the unit), swivels, and extends to about 10″.

there is a coiled connector from the unit to the player, and on the opposite side is a volume control to alleviate any saturation issues or compensate for low ripping volume. the bottom has a conventional slide panel to access the battery (it takes two aas), and there's a side connector for the included a/c adapter and/or cigarette lighter plugs.

now for some more details. in my apartment (which i use during the week) i have a kloss tivioli radio. i tried the same process for matching blank frequencies and it worked, but with a twist. i turned the bathroom radio and the bedroom radio on and guess what i got? my music through all three radios simultaneously, a la an intercom system. i was surrounded by music of my choice, not some commercial-ridden programming spew. cool.

i was just in california on a driving vacation, going from los angeles to san francisco in a rented car. i plugged the c. crane digital fm transmitter into the ipod mini and viola, i had my music coming through the car stereo. one problem did occur, however. as i was driving, if the frequency i was tuned to was also being used by a commercial broadcast, the transmitter was powerful enough to override it, but it sounded like the station was mistuned. of course, this was easy to fix by finding another unused frequency, but at high speed that wasn't fun.

i run the c. crane digital fm transmitter off batteries most of the time, and the battery life is good–many many hours. but i probably should use the a/c and the cigarette lighter plug in the car more often.

one area which can be fussy is the volume matching between the radio and the transmitter. it is easy to oversaturate, and since i am not careful about matching volume when i rip music it can be a bit annoying.

you might ask why i didn't buy the itrip transmitter for the ipod. well, i also have three nomad zen extras, too, one for each of the three women in my life (two pre-teen daughters and my wife; we're a mixed marriage of apple and non-apple bigots). the c. crane digital fm transmitter worked equally well with the creative labs mp3 players, too.

one word of caution: don't keep your blackberry too close to the transmitter or you'll receive lots of interference when the blackberry is syncing.

you can get the c. crane digital fm transmitter in white, silver, or black for us$69.95 at the c. crane website. the company even offers a mobile accessory kit with vent clip mount, 12 volt to 5 volt power adapter, and cigarette lighter splitter for $29.95.

user comments 39 comment(s)

not bad, but….(9:34am est fri nov 05 2004)quite a good product, even according to street price.the matter is…..the range is too small.i'm looking for at least a 150m range at full quality signal.but for this there are only semi-professional products with a 2 mile range and 300$ cost :-( – by ice.man

objection your honor!(9:46am est fri nov 05 2004)“i live in at least three different places and drive about 300 miles/week.”

so i take it that you carry that monstrosity everywhere you live or drive. but you bought it because

“i also have three nomad zen extras, too, one for each of the three women in my life”

what i cannot connect is, if it's with you all the time, in your many living places, in car while driving and probably when you're at work, when or how do anyone else get to use it? so is it worth paying three times the cost of an itrip, for something that is 10times the size, which requires batteries or an adopter, and takes the 'mini' out of your ipod mini? – by blunt arrow

soon to be in the worst 10 products ever(11:15am est fri nov 05 2004)i think it's nuts to allow a product that can transmit over the entire u.s. fm frequency range.this means that any guy that doesn't like his neighbor or the station he's listening to, can effectively jam the signal.as someone who's wireless signal has gotten knocked out at two houses (all different hardware), i've known the helpless feeling of not being able to track the source of the problem.

i predict c. crane, one of my favorite companies up to this point, will be the target of some very nasty violence or, at the least, angry legal proceedings.

anyone agree?

i'd use the thing to broadcast tv station sound in the house. my radios that have tv bands (hey, hey, we're the monkees..) only do stations 2-13.– by kev, a swing dancer

oops, wireless addendum(11:21am est fri nov 05 2004)dang those run-on sentences.i meant that my wi-fi signal gets jammed for a few minutes or hours at a time. microwave, cordless phone, someone on the same channel, we don't know. and since many don't broadcast their id, we can't see what channels are being used.

now that's a device i'd pay for: one that scans the area and reports what channels are being used throughout the day. it has to be over time. a bonus would be if it could tell what kind of device was broadcasting the 2.4 ghz signal. – by kev, a swing dancer

re kev(12:42pm est fri nov 05 2004) the device you are looking for is a spectrum analyzer. the prices vary but agilent (formerly hewlet packard instruments) may have one for under $100,00.00. if your not an electronics type it will take you a little while to learn to use it. as far as low power pirate radio, it has been around for more than 50 yrs.it is covered under fcc rules part 15. you may be able to tap off of the tvs audio out jack or from the speaker on older tv and rebroadcast the sound to fm radios. this device will rebroadcast any audio of sufficient level, hidden microphone etc. – by rcaman

one little step ahead(3:21pm est fri nov 05 2004)i play the ipod (g3) thru its dock to a splitter. one signal goes to the c.crane transmitter the other signal goes directly into my home's main surround-sound system for high volume and the sub-woofer.

the transmitter broadcasts to my tivoli pal, whether it's in another room, or outside on the patio. the sony boombox in the garage also receives the c.crane signal, along with any of my other household radios.

advantages to the c.crane as i see them: the full antenna results in better range (i'm sure total power output for these units is regulated by the fcc), and the full-spectrum transmitter helps in finding an open frequency when you live in a large metropolitan area (i.e., north of chicago, south of milwaukee). – by slickwhit

i'm looking for serious power…..(3:38pm est fri nov 05 2004)i have the itrip. it's useless. i'm willing to spend up to $150 for something with lots of raw power! my pickup truck at work only has an am/fm radio and we can't change them. i must have slayer playing fast and furious at all times to keep me relaxec while driving around fixing troubles all day! any ideas people or it the subject of this article it?

– by james beatty

oh yeah…..(3:47pm est fri nov 05 2004)i live and drive all around washington dc. so at best i can find a weak radio station to blast a signal over. thus my itrip is useless. i need more raw power!

– by james beatty

lawsuits?(6:07pm est fri nov 05 2004)“i predict c. crane, one of my favorite companies up to this point, will be the target of some very nasty violence or, at the least, angry legal proceedings”

nah – part of the fcc agreement with all electronic device manufactures is that any of their signals can be overwhelmed and interfered with by other signaling devices. – by qc_metal

emi interference(7:00pm est fri nov 05 2004)yup.. have to agree with the rest of you. its part of the type acceptance that many new portable electronics must pass through that they don't emmit certain rf signals, but that they can also survive being exposed to signals… i think anything less than 0.5watts is legal in on the fm band (88-108 mhz) and there is nothing you can do about it. they may have just bumped this up to 2 watts, i haven't followed it in a while. – by k2h

rcaman: i was expecting the device i'm looking for to be about $10,000 (of course, i'll just borrow it). even if “$100,00.00” is actually $100,000, i'm on a crusade to get it here for a week.

thanks, everyone. – by kev, a swing dancer

fm power(9:31pm est fri nov 05 2004)here's a site that sells a range of powerful fm transmitters that will do the trick. – by exit polls don't lie

awful product!(2:27am est tue nov 09 2004)i have personally ordered this digital fm transmitter from c. crane. unfortunately the transmitter was a total disappointment and keep this in mind this was back two years ago was when the asking price was around 99 dollars. ouch! in fact it was such a let down, i sent it back after a few days. for the price you would expect the performance to be outstanding…right? not the case! first, the range was terrible, don't let the metal extendable antenna fool ya, it doesn't extend range, at least that would be significant. second its really bulky. (half a brick) another important detail they left out…the tiny lcd screen doesn't have a light built in as to see the display in the dark. how hard can it be to solder two leds? c. crane engineers really need to update this product. decrease the size and increase the features and then they might earn some points. bottom-line, the only difference i can see between the original version and this current one is the price has dropped and they colored the case. anyway, great geek dot com review. – by the kritic

ccrane fm transmitter (8:26pm est wed nov 10 2004)i've been using it for almost two years and i love it

this page

shows the trick to improve the rangehope this helps – by dmitry

great little transmitter(1:08pm est tue nov 16 2004)i've had one of these for a few months now & i'm very satisfied with it. i got it for broadcasting internet radio from my computer thoughout the house. i initially had some trouble receiving the signal at the opposite end of the house, so i tied a length of wire to the antenna and it helped boost the range enough (don't tell the fcc!). the fidelity obviously isn't as good as a professional broadcasting station, but it is more than adequate for clock radios, boom boxes or even the home stereo at moderate volume. if you're looking to start a pirate radio station, this isn't the right transmitter for you. but, if you're looking for a stable, digitally tuned, inexpensive, short range, stereo transmitter, this transmitter is exactly what you're looking for. – by expectations in line

good, but hack it better(9:07pm est wed nov 17 2004)i have the crane fm tx and about a dozen others. belkin tunecast i and ii i like for the smaller size, the crane i like because a tweak on an easy access variable pot on the pcb will get you more power out. a tad over legal limit.

the rohm 141x fm tx chips sound very good, but if you are using a modern pc for audio to feed these little fm tx guys you should try this free winamp plug in called sound solution.

the audio difference is amazing.

if you can, add a real antenna to these transmitters and your tx range will double. surface mount parts let you squeeze an rf and lp filter even into the tiny belkin, (backside of pcb). 3-10mw is ok but 300mw is better.

one thing i do *not* like about the crane and belkin ii is when you enter a new tx frequency the rf sweeps the band to the new frequency. they should mute the rf out till the pll is locked, imo. – by zeke

crane fm transmitter(7:26pm est mon nov 29 2004)i am heartbroken. i happily used my crane transmitter for about the past six months, the range juuuuust reaching my home stereos in my apt. it was perfect to always hear the same thing on all of them.then, at 10:50 a.m. on nov. 23rd, a religious radio station took over that frequency. i have discovered that it was the last open frequency in my area, and i can no longer tune into my own transmitter. no dead zone anywhere on the dial.did i mention that i'm heartbroken? – by beev

will the xm modified unit also handlethe audio output from cd players, mp3 pkayes ansd such – by robert

how to turn up the ccrane gain(4:30pm est tue dec 28 2004)the power of the transmitter can be significantly increased by adjusting a small pot that is concealed behind the product label on the back of the transmitter.

they don't print this information anywhere, but a dealer's tech support rep informed me of this capability.

it certainly improves the reach of the transmitter. perhaps more than the feds would approve of.

the label, if raised carefully can be pressed back in place. – by nc mike

power decreases by the square of the distance. double the distance equals one quarter the signal.

uv/meter range5 100'20 200'60 600'250 1260' – by ike

ccrane fm transmitter mod(4:41pm est thu may 05 2005)i bought the ccrane fm transmitter and when i first tried it out, it was completely useless. i live in a major metropolitan area, and the fm dial is pretty well saturated. however, even after carefully finding some dead space on the dial, the ccrane unit did nothing unless i touched the transmitter antena to the radio antena. not very useful! i moved the setup to another part of the apartment, and i was able to get about 10 feet of range if i fiddled with the antenas, and that was staticy and in mono. still, pretty useless. i was going to send it back, but decided to be bold and try the mod. it is easy. you just take the screw off the case and turn the knob. even though the knob was already way more than half way to the max, adjusting it to the max made a huge difference! now i am able to get the distance i need, which is only about 30 or 40 feet, but that is through walls and floors, so i am happy with that. i also attached a long piece of speaker wire to the antena to help the range. it also helped some. so the bottom line is, depending on where you live, and depending on how far you need to transmit, the ccrane might work for you, but only if you do the mod. otherwise, i think it is not strong enough to be of any use. after the mod, i get a great signal in stereo on all the radios in the apartment! – by straightbourbon

modification to improve range(4:47pm est thu may 05 2005)once again, this is the page

that shows the trick to improve the range. – by straightbourbon

would recommend to anyone(3:05pm est fri jul 08 2005)read this review and bought one. it certainly lived up to the hype. i split the signal coming out of my pc to my speakers and to the transmitter. i have music coming out of my office (klipsch pc speakers), my bedroom (big stereo), living room (home theatre) and my kitchen (boombox). it picks up in the car a good ways away too! awesome buy – by batch

rocks!(5:05am est sat sep 03 2005)not legal in the uk but got one in the us. after the mod (actually didn't try it before) i love this and have various orders from friends.

best use is streaming various on-demand audio from bbc to radios in house while at home. it's also proved a gem whenever there's been a call for some instant music and we have nothing apart from an ipod and a radio. – by london calling

i will buy one now…(8:57am est tue nov 15 2005)thanks to all of you i will now order the c. crane digital fm transmitter. – by clevest

fm transmitter(12:50pm est wed jan 04 2006)i am blind and i need to transmit my talking books i get from the library over a fm transmitter, so i'm tied down to 1 place, i really need to know an easy way to increas the range that a blind person can do, i ordered the transmitter from c crame company yesterday, any ideas how i can increas my range??? – by lawrence anderson

thanks(1:49pm est sun jan 08 2006)this is an excellent site thanks for the information! – by andy

i went through (4:09pm est sun mar 12 2006)about a dozen fm transmtters before finding one that worked well, and it is the c crane fm stereo transmitter.

most other transmitters do not live up to their claims of even a ten to thirty foot range, but the c crane transmitter covers my entire house.

as shortwave broadcasts to the united states have gotten fewer and further between, i have had to take to listening to the many streaming internet broadcasts. the c crane transmitter has taken up a permanent station at my computer desk, and my somputer speakers have now been replaced by fm receiver (my teac r1) does nicely in fact.)

you are not going to do much better in range than the c crane transmiiter unless you go whoe hog and order ramsey electronics fm 100 low power fm stereo station transmitter.this is a low power fm stereo tranmitter that allow no-license stereo broadcast. to use it at the full one watt power, you have to buy an external fm transmitting antenna. this brings you up to the legal limits for a license free fm station, but these transmitters are usually sufficient to cover a small island, or a small village in lieu thereof. so if you want to spend about 300 dollars you can find something that will out perform the c crane fm transmitter.

otherwise, this is the best fm stereo transmitter on the market to use with either computers, or mp3 players – by nick

open freq(9:35am est thu apr 20 2006)i have had my ccrane for months and love it. great range.try this site for finding an open freq in your area.– by jable

needs the mod(7:36pm est mon jul 03 2006)wouldn't work accross the room until i peeled off the label and turned up the pot. now it covers the entire house. – by doug

mp3 broadcast thru car fm radio(9:08pm est sun aug 06 2006)i have a 6 cd changer in my trunk and i would like to come up with a capability of 100's of recordings. hence i was thinking of some kind of mp3 device that would somehow broadcast thru my radio. i have am, fm cd and tape capability on my radio. i was thinking there should be some wireless device. obiviously, i am a novice. – by george h. miller

very disappointed with range(2:04am est mon aug 07 2006)i'm an engineer and longtime stereo buff. i bought the c. crane fm transmitter to send my main stereo's signal throughtout my house. big disappoitment. thinking that the tape out levels of my main stereo might be too low (since they don't make the led flash), i tried an ipod, with very little improvement. even in the next room, my other stereo system would not pick it up at all… just a “hum” at the set frequency. i tried the mod mentioned above, of opening the unit and cranking the trimmer pot near the antenna all the way clockwise, but it was already set almost all the way clockwise anyway, so the mod made little difference. i think maybe crane has recently modified their design to reduce the effectiveness of this mod in recent models (mine is “ft-007”, and no longer has a sticker covering the trimmer mentioned in earlier posts). anyway, even with the mod, using a terk fm antenna on my denon receiver, an ipod in the next room, and an fm frequency with absolutely no inteference, reception is poor at best. the setup only works less than 20 feet away from a good receiver, within line of site. with a clock radio, the range is about 12 feet, line of sight only. through only one wall, 25 feet away, poor receivers are useless, and even with a good receiver and powered fm antenna, reception is full of static. and, driving the ccrane with tape outs is useless – not enough signal. basically this unit is good for 20 feet or so, even with the mod, and for ipod or headphone level outputs and a good receiver only. unless your unit is significantly different from mine, you may well be in for a disappointment. – by jmwhsv

how do i exactly hook this up to a windows me computer if no jack?(4:31pm est thu oct 12 2006)i read an article in the absolute sound and mention about windows media streamline audio. many stations but can anyone tell me how to rig this up to a windows me computer? – by zac

ccrane fm transmitter(1:05pm est thu jun 14 2007)i also have the newer model (ft-007) with no sticker on the back to peel back. it was a dismal failure until i unscrewed the back (2 screws under pads, 1 screw in battery compartment. i then turned the phillips slotted thing farthest clockwise i could go, which was only a little bit! but, it made a world of difference!!!!i also: 1. turned my dsl modem off as it gave out a signal. 2. i set a frequency that was clear and tuned to it 40 feet, 4 walls away and turned it so i could hear what was coming through. 3. i then adjusted the “input level dial” on the ccrane lower until all static was gone on the distant radio. 4. antenna straight up, and ccrane turned so narrow side faced direction of radio was best. 5. i used headphones out on a g5 — be sure to go to “audio” and set it for “headphones”. 6. i then increased the audio output on the computer, while adjusting the ccrane “input level” to reach no static — which was almost down to nothing. don't turn that input level up high — it just makes static. 7. i then went to the garage (farther away) and aimed my garage stereo antenna and now have the highest fm reception on that old fm signal meter of any regular station! i use itunes to broadcast over the ccrane and it does an excellent job today — after i took the time to play with it.

i don't think the ccrane fm transmitter is located in the ideal place as it is surrounded by tv, all my audio equipment, printers and two computers. yesterday it was a failure and i was ready to return it. today it is perfect!!! adjusting the phillips slotted gizmo far to the right is the first step. turning down the dial (which we have been told to turn up), get rid of internet static, up the feed from your computer (headphones) — and most of all taking some time to do these steps while getting feedback from a couple of distant radios at the same time. the new model is a keeper and i live in a major city! – by wings

ccrane fm transmitter(1:09pm est thu jun 14 2007)oh yeah! try setting your equalizer to “flat” (itunes) on the computer as other settings were distorting the sound coming through different radios. – by wings